Discount Cardiology carries all the major brands for Electrodes like Ambu, Bio-Protech, Unomedical, 3M, Burdick, Conmed, Kendall, Lead-lok, Heartwise, Marquette / G.E. Healthcare, Vermed, Skintact, Nikomed, Biotabs, and many more. Discount Cardiology is the premier place for Electrodes and other Cardiology Supplies. Where there are ecg electrodes. there is ekg paper! We guarantee the lowest prices in the country on ekg paper and electrodes. EKG Electrodes for use with ekg machines, stress systems, defibrillators, holter monitoring, cardiac rehab telemetry, and general patient monitoring. Discount Cardiology recommends cleaning and "prepping" the patient prior to electrode placement. Hair, lotion, soaps, and others have been known to cause ekg and ecg interference. An alcohol prep pad can do the trick. Contact Discount Cardiology for help and advice on you ekg / ecg electrode needs. 800-507-8244

EKG Leads

The term "lead" in electrocardiography is often misconstrued because it is used to refer to two different things. In layman's terms, the word "lead" may be used to refer to the ecg cable attaching the electrodes to the ECG machine. As such, it is often referred to as "left arm lead" as the ecg electrode (and its ekg patient cable) that should be attached at or near the left arm. In most cases, 10 ecg electrodes are used per "12-lead" ECG.

Alternatively (and some would say properly, in the context of electrocardiography), the word lead may refer to the tracing of the voltage between two of the ecg electrodes and is what is actually produced by the ECG recorder. A specific name is used for each lead. For example "lead I" is the voltage between the right arm ecg electrode and the left arm ecg electrode, whereas "Lead II" is the voltage between the right arm and the left leg. (This rapidly becomes more complex as one of the "electrodes" may in fact be a composite of the electrical signal from a combination of the other electrodes). Twelve of this type of lead form a "12-lead" ECG.

To cause additional confusion, the term "limb leads" usually refers to the tracings from leads I, II and III rather than the ecg electrodes attached to the limbs.

Placement of ECG Electrodes

Ten ekg electrodes are used during a 12-lead ECG. The ekg electrodes usually consist of a conducting gel, embedded in the middle of a self-adhesive pad onto which cables clip. Sometimes the gel also forms the adhesive.